Eternal Flame
by True Mirage
Summary: It wasn’t supposed to end this way. They weren’t supposed to be standing here today. They weren’t ever supposed to be standing here. BROOKE CENTRIC.
1. Cold, Cold Heart

**A/N**: I'm not sure how many chapters this fic will have, but there won't be too many. The chapters will also not be very long, 'cause I don't like writing long chapters, so please don't ask me to make them longer.

I would also like to apologize before hand for any kind of spelling mistakes – English isn't my first language.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and reviews are always very, very much appreciated.

* * *

_It wasn't supposed to end this way. _

They weren't supposed to be standing here today. They weren't ever supposed to be standing here.

"It's gone now, isn't it?"

"What is?" Karen looks at her.

"Everything."

She hasn't laid her eyes on them in six years. Not any of them. Contacts were broken on purpose by herself. She wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to start over, or if it was because of Peyton.

Her's best friend died one month after starting college. It was unfair and uncalled for. She didn't want it, she didn't deserve it and it couldn't have destroyed more people.

She died in an airplane crash.

She _wishes _Peyton would leave her thoughts. If only for a day. But she never does. She feels her in her heart, her body, her soul. _Every day_.

Her death tore them all apart. Their friendship died, it was no longer existent. They got themselves careers, they created a life for ourselves. They were able to forget. They could climb into their own world, forget about the past and only look ahead. Never look back. i Don't ever /i .

And now Haley's the one who has brought them all together. It's ironic, really. She was the one who brought them all together in the first place.

Oh god. Haley. The kindness itself. The selflessness itself. If anyone, she didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve _death_.

_They__ weren't supposed to be standing here today._

"Is there anything you would like to say, Brooke?" she looks up from the cold, hard ground into the warm eyes of Karen. "Would you like to say something about Haley?"

In front of everyone. A speech. She hasn't given a speech since their wedding years ago. And that was a speech she had been preparing for weeks. Stealing quotes from Shakespeare, getting help from Lucas, making herself seem smart, memorizing it.

"No." Is her simple answer, and Karen doesn't take it any further. Instead, Lucas steps forward. The wind starts to blow even harder and Brooke feels a small rain drop on her shoulder.

He gives the brilliant speech everyone expected of him. He spoke of her so lovingly, so softly and with so many words, words Brooke never would've thought of.

Before she realizes, people are starting to walk away. It's finished now. She's gone, people have grieved, it's time to move on.

She wants to leave, but she can't feel her legs moving.

It's only the three of them left now. The three of them plus one. Who would've thought, that in the end, there would only be the Scott brothers and the biggest slut of Tree Hill High left. And a kid.

Everyone's gone. Everyone and everything that kept them sane. It's gone.

"Daddy." A voice interrupts the silence so cruelly. An innocent voice, from a boy that still has his soul and love left in him. "I want to go home."

Home? Where was home now, to Nathan? He had no home. Haley was his home. He had nothing to go back to. All he had was his son.

Nathan's eyes meets Brooke, and they understand each other. For the first time in their lives, they understand each other just perfectly.

She won't hug him. She won't hug either of them. She won't, because there is no possibility that will make them feel any less worse. She won't, because she feels just as horrible as they are. There is nothing in her to use as a comfort.

She looks at Lucas, but he refuses to meet her eyes. She understands this too. He has his hands in his pockets, and his eyes are focused on the coffin in front of them._ On Haley._

He always loved her, she knows. It doesn't matter in what way – she doesn't know, and perhaps not even _he_ did - but it didn't matter. Because he loved her. Every part of her. And he's one of the few people in the world that actually means it when he says he would've died for her.

"I'm going." She turns around, breaths in the air, taking it all in, as she prepares to leave for the last time.

Then he calls for her. Lucas. It was unexpected, which is why she stops in a heart beat.

"Stay." He looks at her with begging eyes and she wonders why. She wonders why he broke this silent rule between them.

"No." She replies without hesitating. It's not her home anymore. It's not for her.

"Just for a few days." He says. "We need you here. We all do."

She wants to say no. She wants to remind him that she isn't a part of them anymore, and that they aren't a part of her anymore. But she can't resist. She's never resisted those eyes, and those words of need. And to her disappointment, she hasn't changed as much as she had hoped she had.

"A few days." She says. A few days is all she's going to kill herself with.


	2. The Long Day Is Over

**A/N**: Thanks for the reviews guys! Just one thing, I don't want to give anything away, but I don't want to make anyone disappointed or make anyone want to stop reading the story...So, all I'll say is that this is not a NBromance story. Even if you're a NB fan, I hope you continue reading, because overall this is a Brooke story, with the focus on and from the point of view of Brooke and her relationship to Lucas and Nathan, and you will be very pleased if you've always wanted a close friendship between Nathan and Brooke. So, thank you for the reviews guys, and I want more! I hope you enjoy the chapter, even though it's short, and even if you don't – **please** **review**!

* * *

"_I'm glad you're here_."

It cannot possibly be the alcohol saying this, or Karen – it's a man's voice. A voice she hasn't heard in years.

"Nathan." She says. He sits next to her. They can hear Karen with the dishes in the back of the café. She was the only one of those who knew Haley best that was able to go back to normal life. Normal things. Dishes.

They say nothing for minutes. He wants to, but doesn't quite know how to speak – and she hopes he won't. It's is wonderful for her these days. The silence. She used to despise it - how quiet this small town was. Now she doesn't understand how she could never appreciate it.

He goes behind the counter and makes himself a cup of tea. She watches him. He moves tiredly and slowly – but he has a strength in him. A strength she doesn't recognize. She knows it's all thanks to Haley.

"It feels so strange to be here." He says as he sits beside her again. There's sadness in his eyes, but there are no tears left. "This has been her second home for her whole life. She played here, worked here."

She feels a wave of sadness wash over her as she looks around the café. _Everything_ reminds her of Haley.

"How's Jamie?" she asks and dares herself to look at Nathan. She has yet to actually meet her godson since she came here. She hasn't seen him since he was a baby.

"He doesn't get it yet." He replies and looks down on his folded, shaking hands. "He doesn't understand."

And suddenly it hits her how selfish she's been. How she felt sorry for herself when there's a little boy to be more worried about. A boy who she should've been there for during all those years. Suddenly, she feels ashamed.

"I want to meet him." She says and Nathan looks up at her, surprised. She should feel offended at this, but she doesn't, because she knows he shouldn't expect much from her.

But she needs this. She has no one.

"Stay with us." He says. Is it a question? An order? A plead? "Stay with us, until...until you leave. We'd both be glad to have you."

Would they? She's not sure. But she finds herself smiling at him, and accepting the offer.

She then reminds herself that she's only staying a couple of days, no longer. She knows – more than anyone - what Tree Hill does to people like her.


	3. The Nearness Of You

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry for not updating this fic in forever. I just realized this today. But here it is! It's not that long but at least longer than the previous two. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Breakfast the following day isn't strained – just silent. Brooke looks down in her plate and studies every part of the burned pancake – hoping to find one unburned part – but fails. It is uneatable.

"Sorry." She looks up and sees a frowning Nathan, realizing he had been studying her. She laughs, for the first time in what feels like years.

"It's alright. I'm not that hungry anyway." She smiles at him, and he chuckles. Her heart flutters as she realizes she made him smile. Then it goes away as quickly as it came for both of them. They just can't, they won't. Not when Haley's gone.

"Daddy." She turns around in her chair and sees a tired Jamie standing by the door to his room. He's a small six year old boy, and looks just like his mother. She smiles at him, but he only stares back.

"Jamie – this is Brooke, your godmother." Nathan says as Jamie sits in his lap. "Do you remember? You saw her yesterday at the..." He doesn't finish his sentence.

Jamie shakes his head, and Brooke's disappointed. Although she expected nothing else.

"Hi." She says, giving him a small smile. He doesn't return it – just looks at her curiously. She reminds herself that she should know this boy, she could've known him for over six years – but she doesn't.

Jamie leaves his father's lap to watch television, and Nathan leans over to Brooke.

"Do you think you could watch him for me today?" he says. She wonders if it's for him, or for her. Either way, he doesn't let it show.

"Of course, Nathan." She says without doubting. She'll do anything he asks her now.

He smiles, and it strucks her how much he looks like his brother and much less like his father, these days. There's vulnerability in his eyes, something that she hadn't seen before. Then again, she hadn't seen him in six years. She didn't know him anymore.

An hour later, Nathan leaves the house, leaving a number to call in case of emergencies. Brooke is left alone with Jamie for the first time, and she can't help but feel helpless. She's never handled children before. She never had any brothers and sisters, or cousins for that matter.

"Hey." She sits on her knees and leans towards Jamie, who's sitting on the floor and playing with his toys. He doesn't look up to meet her eyes. "What kind of fun would you like to do?"

He shrugs simply.

"Do you want me to play with you?" she asks, hoping he wants it as much as she does.

He shrugs again.

She feels slightly out of place, and embarassed, so she excuses herself and goes to her room.

She sits on the bed, the beautifully perfectly made bed and the beautifully perfectly cleaned room and knows she's just as out of place here.

She cries. She's not sure why, but perhaps because of the humbleness that came over her as she realized she was home. Perhaps because of Haley. Or of herself. The hate she has for Brooke Davis.

She hears the bell ring. Is Nathan back? Did he realize Brooke wasn't good enough to take care of his child?

She passes by Jamie, who doesn't notice her as much as he didn't notice her leaving, and opens the door slowly.

Every feeling she felt in the past comes over her as she acknowledges His prescence.

"Lucas." Is all that comes out of her mouth. She tugs at the bottom of her grey hoodie out of nervosity, which came out of nowhere, or out of this.

"Hi." He says. It's the first time in six years she's looked into those ice blue eyes, and they both sense something has changed. In each other, and between them. As if it couldn't have.

"Come on in." She says, ignoring the irony. Lucas has probably spent a million more times here than she has.

"I didn't know you were staying," he frowns and puts his hands in his pockets. He walks in, not leaving her eyes, and she closes the door behind him.

"It's just for a couple of days." She says. "Nathan needed me, I guess."

Lucas nods. He understands.

"We all do." He breaks away from her eyes, and she's afraid it's because he's angry with her.

"Lucas!" Jamie runs into his arms, and Lucas breaks into a smile.

"Hi there, little guy." He hugs him, and she can't help but smile as Lucas closes his eyes, enjoy the embrace.

He puts him down, and leans down to come closer to Jamie's height.

"How are you, Jamie?" he asks him, and Brooke along with Lucas is hoping for an honest answer. Jamie leans in to Lucas and whispers. As he pulls back, Lucas grabs his head and kisses him on the forehead.

"Me too, kid." He says. He looks up on Brooke, who looks uncomfortable in this secrecy, and then back on Jamie. "Is Aunt Brooke baby sitting you?"

"Yeah..." he says and looks down.

"Well, then you're really lucky, you know." He says. "Brooke is a whole lotta fun. She tells the funniest jokes, she loves cartoon movies and she can't bake – so you'll get to eat dough."

Jamie laughs.

"It's true, you know." She says and leans down slightly. He smiles, excitement in his eyes. "So what would you like to do?"

"I want to bake!" he says and they all laugh.

"Chocolate cake it is, then." Brooke gives Lucas a thankful smile, and he smiles back.

"Are you staying?" she asks. "Please stay."

"Of course."

Hours later, they've eaten chocolate cake dough, played with his toys and watched two cartoon movies. It's starting to get dark outside, and Jamie's fallen asleep.

Brooke watches the news while Lucas finishes the last of the cleaning.

"Who would've known, Brooke Davis; interested in news that aren't from Hollywood." He says jokingly. "Bevin wouldn't be proud."

She smiles, and he sits down in the couch next to her. "Well...I've changed." She says.

"I know." His tone and expression changes to a more serious one. She notices, but she doesn't turn off the television. She doesn't look at him. She rests her head in her left hand, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"You have too."

"I know." He replies quickly. "Do you blame me?"

She looks at him now. She has to. She has to let him know.

"I can't talk about that." She whispers. She knows what he wants to talk about, but she never has. She never will.

"Brooke, they're-" he starts, but she cuts him off.

"I know!" she yells. "I know goddammit! Don't you think I know?"

"You haven't talked to me – us - in six years, you haven't even-"

She cuts him off again by quickly rising from the couch. She looks at him, her eyes burning in to him.

"Don't." She says. "You know nothing about me."

He opens his mouth, but quickly closes it again. He knows he can't argue. He doesn't know who she is anymore.

He stands up, expecting her to take two steps back. She doesn't. Instead, she takes two steps forward. She can feel his breath on her.

He lifts his hand and takes it up towards her face, as if he's about to cup her cheek. He doesn't, instead he puts the strays of hairs hanging in front of her face behind her ear.

He leans in to her and whispers.

"They loved you. And we still do." His warm breath on her ear makes her shiver.

And before she knows it, he's gone.


End file.
